Localization of Personnel in Industrial Environments Using Passive RFID Tags

This paper presents the realization of a wireless monitoring systems for usage in industrial environments. The systems operates in a closed space, monitoring users positions, accesses to the room, and environmental parameters. Differently from other previously proposed solutions which use active tags, the proposed system operates by monitoring the position of an user in closed space through a matrix of RFID readers and passive tags. In this way, the users do not have to worry about periodically recharging the batteries for their tag, as happens in the active tag use case. A closed test space has been divided in a matrix of position tracking sectors for testing purposes, each covered by one RFID reader. The information is made available locally through a Graphical User Interface (GUI), and remotely using an Internet of Things (IoT) webserver. The system is described in detail in all its parts, from the nodes hardware and firmware, to the GUI and remote platform integration.